Pentagon sending 1,000 additional troops to Middle East in response to Iran's 'hostile behavior'

Patrick Shanahan.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

In response to recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, an additional 1,000 U.S. troops are being sent to the Middle East, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan announced Monday.

The U.S. says Iran is behind the attacks, and Shanahan said "hostile behavior by Iranian forces and their proxy groups ... threaten United States personnel and interests across the region." These troops, who will join 1,500 other soldiers sent to the region last month after similar tanker attacks, are "for defensive purposes to address air, naval, and ground-based threats in the Middle East," Shanahan added.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.